Sounds of the Seventies

My thoughts about music in the living room have been diverted by a gift from a relative of his 1975-vintage Spendor BC1 speakers. I was worried that, given their vintage, there might be obvious deterioration, but plugging them in to my existing amp etc. dispelled that notion; even sitting on a bamboo block on the carpet they sound fantastic.

I asked around about recommended stands to lift them off the floor (Spendor recommend at least 9 inches clearance below the speakers) and audiophile shops quoted me £300 for the same. Asking around has uncovered a favourite trick of users of similar Harbeth speakers utilising IKEA Oddvar stools, cut down and without the top. This results in a solid wood stand with plenty of airspace beneath the speaker cabinet. This costs £21 including postage, plus extra for some teak stain to colour the stools to match the cabinets. I’ll probably also buy some sorbothane pads and cork pads to go on top of them too for the points on which the speakers sit.

The problem I now have is that the speakers really demand a better amplifier than the one I have. Along with the speakers I was also given a vintage Trio KR-4070 Receiver/Amp. This really needs a good clean and service to get it back to scratch. Once that’s done we’ll see where things stand.

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Meantime, thinking of things musical, The Deuce gets better and better (though it also gets harder to watch in some respects, as life on the streets takes its toll on the characters.) I’ve watched up to episode 5, and, amongst everything else, the soundtrack has been superb. There was a scene in episode 5 in a rudimentary disco that had me scrambling for Soundhound when the DJ played this